Safety

In a tragedy being compared to the sinking of the Titanic, the Italian-flagged cruise ship Costa Concordia ran aground off the coast of Tuscany late Friday, January 13th, resulting in at least six casualties, approximately 30 injured including at least two in grave condition, and as many as 36 individuals still missing. The cause of the accident has yet to be determined.

The ISRR is pleased to report that the parties working on the Rena salvage operations are preparing to pump the remaining fuel oil from the vessel.

In addition, 42 of the 88 containers that have gone missing have been found, and will be "raised from the sea bed as soon as pollution prevention work has been completed."

In the latest development to United States maritime policy, Congressman Steve Cohen has re-proposed the American Coastal Waters and Shorelines Protection Act – a bill that would require offshore vessels drilling in U.S. waters to be nationally flagged.

The maritime community has been discussing the use of armed guards aboard vessels in response to the continued issue of piracy within the Gulf of Aden and other high risk areas.

The list was issued June 6th and is based on inspection data for the period 2008-2010. 84 flags are on the 2010 list, up from 82 for 2009. The 2010 breakdown is "Black List" 18 (down 6 from 2009), "Grey List" 24 (up 5 from 2009) and "White List" 42 (up 3 from 2009).

New to the "Black List" are Ukraine, Tanzania and Azerbaijan